Week 4, Autumn Term 2023
Dear Boarding Families,
It has been quite a strange start to this term, we seem to be nearly half way through it and we haven’t had all boys on campus yet! After two weeks of Year 11 and 12 examinations, we now have two year groups away on Bibbulmun Track and walking through the senior house at times has been eerily quiet! It has been an amazing week for the Bib Track this week with the weather, some of the photos we have been getting from the two groups have been outstanding.
Boarding Week and Ag Day
This week is National Boarding Week and many schools are celebrating their boarding week. Scotch will be celebrating our boarding week in Week 7 just after the long weekend, June 6th – 9th . There will be several activities throughout the week to put a spotlight on boarding, and hopefully parents will be able to engage with quite a lot as well, as we will have a big social media presence that week. We start the week with a look at what boarders get up to at home, we celebrate the boarding photo competition, we will have a podcast and we will have several photos and interviews throughout the week that will be broadcast on the College’s Facebook and Instagram pages. The boys will be doing a number of things during the week at lunchtimes and then we have a big day planned for Ag Day on Friday. We also have plans to invite day boys and even teachers into the boarding house throughout the week to get a feel for our boarders’ “Home away from home”. The theme of Ag Day on the Friday is about building a bridge between the city and the country. We will do this by celebrating both the lifestyle and career opportunities in the regions. This will be aimed at both day boys and boarders, who may want to consider living and working in the regions after they leave school. We have a number of exhibitors on that day including CBH, Tourism WA, DPIRD, Woodside, Warrakirri, Curtin University and Muresk. We also have a machinery display, including an electric powered aeroplane, and some farm machinery. The boys have also been given the offer of bringing their motorbikes down to Perth to display in the Gooch carpark with the rest of the machines.
Year 11 Dance and Boarders Ball and Yr 12 retreat
This Saturday the Year 11s have their school dance, which is really exciting. I am looking forward to going along and seeing the boys enjoying themselves. A big thanks to the Wandel and Stoney families that have offered to host the pre-dance function and all boarders have been invited. This is a great way of building community.
Next Saturday, Scotch is hosting the Boarders’ Ball for Year 11s and 12s from Scotch and PLC. All boys and girls are allowed to bring a partner. The theme for the evening is “Dress as something that starts with the first letter of your name”. It should be a great night!
On Friday June 9th, all the year 12s are going away for a retreat and staying the night at the beautiful Amaroo Retreat and Spa in Mt Helena. We are blessed that the Westerman family have been so generous as to let us book the estate for the evening. It will be a great night for the boys to all spend together as one, as they near the end of their journey at Scotch.
Year 8 Special Dinner
Last week Mr Mecham took our Year 8s out for a special dinner in the CBD to a restaurant called Bam Bam Boo as a celebration dinner for the Bib Track walk they did in the final week of term. The boys all took the train in for dinner and also had a walk around Elizabeth Quay and Yagan Square. The dinner was a chance to honour the boys and recognise their achievements on the track as a group and as individuals. It was also a lot of fun, Mr Mecham came back telling stories with a sparkle in his eyes!
Academics
The last few weeks have been quite busy in the academic world and the next few weeks will also be busy with assessments. The Year 11s and 12s have recently finished their ATAR and IB examinations and this week has been full of EST assessments for our AAP boys. The boys will be getting results back soon. We also have Year 10s right in the thick of subject and course selection for next year, which is always a big decision and I hope that the boys are seeking appropriate counsel from their parents, House Heads and Heads of Residence in that regard. Year 9s are preparing for their first set of examinations, starting next week. I am sure that, with the mid-term break coming up, most of our middle school boys will be getting assessed in most of their subjects over the next couple of weeks as well. It is important that if any families are thinking of travel for the mid-term break, that boys are transparent with their teachers so that they don’t miss out on key assessments before they leave for home.
Late dinners and Community Sport
We are trying something new this term around late dinners. As there are a number of boys who play community sport on certain days and miss dinner, the catering staff are cooking a special dinner of lasagne or pasta bake for those boys and they get sent over to the boarding houses with some salads so that boys who come in late have a better dinner option. The Senior boarding House is having that happen on a Thursday and the Middle School House gets theirs on a Tuesday, as they are the days with the most boys out for community sport. On all other days, boys are always entitled to a late dinner, they just need to let staff know and a takeaway container will be prepared for them in the dining hall.
Orientation Day
This Friday is Orientation day in the Middle School and we will be doing something for boarding too. The incoming boys spend the afternoon at School and then have afternoon tea. Boarding staff will meet families at afternoon tea and take them around our boarding precinct and give a short presentation about boarding and our Taigh programme that begins in July. Our Taigh programme is a remarkable programme run by Mr Mike Valentine that engages in weekly online meetings with the incoming cohort throughout terms 3 and 4 in the year preceding their arrival at Scotch. By the time the boys get here, they already know each other very well, as well as the staff and are familiar with how to use common software programmes that they will be using in the classroom in Year 7. It is also a wonderful programme for our parents to get to know each other and to ask questions. Orientation day will finish in boarding with a dinner and a chance for parents to meet, while our current Year 7s take the new boys up to the gym for some games to get to know them.
Yr 11 PARTY Programme
On Wednesday 31st May our Year 11 boarders are going on an excursion to Royal Perth Hospital to partake in the Preventing Alcohol Related Trauma in Youth (PARTY) Program. This is always a confronting day but has a profound impact on the boys and teaches valuable life lessons. This forms part of our Life Skill programme in boarding under the broader umbrella of our Wellbeing programme. It is important that we help prepare these boys for life after school. Mr Mellor and Mr Montgomery will be accompanying the boys.
Kununurra Tour
Next weekend I am travelling with our Chair of Council, Mr Tim Wiese, to Kununurra to meet with current and prospective families in the area. A huge thank you to the Cooke family for hosting us.
Parenting from a Distance
Scotch College subscribes to SchoolTV and it can be reached via the Wellbeing tile on Home.Scotch. This week there is a very interesting article from Dr Michael Carr-Gregg on Parenting from a distance, aimed at boarding parents. Please see the link to get to read this interesting article. https://scotch.wa.schooltv.me/wellbeing_news
Writing my newsletter never fails to remind me how much actually goes on in our community and how lucky we are. I wish all families a wonderful fortnight ahead and I look forward to catching up in the coming weeks.
Jordan
Bibbulmun Track – Year 10 Donnelly River
Great weather for the Yr 10 boys walk past the half way point on the track. Cool mornings and sunny days makes for perfect hiking weather. Well done boys!
Middle School Residence – First day Winter Term
The first day of Winter term and don’t the Yr 8 boys look smart in their jackets and ties. The Year 7’s resplendent in their wool jumpers, shorts and long socks. They all look very smart.
Year 8 Dinner
Mr Mecham and Ms Guy took the Year 8s out for a celebration dinner to congratulate the boys for their Bib Track walk at the end of Summer Term. They went to Bam Bam Boo in the City and then had ice cream at Elizabeth Quay.
Senior School Residence
Matteo turned 18 last week and everyone celebrated with cake. Happy Birthday Matteo!!
Thank you to our House Mother’s – Pam, Kerry and Theresa. You do an awesome job!
Mid Term Break – Friday 2nd June to Monday 5th June
Thank you to those that have already entered Holiday Travel Arrangements for your son’s. A reminder that leave for Mid term break needs to be put into Reach no later than Monday, 29th May.
The boarding houses will be closed on Friday 2nd and open from 1:00pm on Monday 5th.
When you enter leave it is from Thursday 1st through to Monday 5th June. Please use Holiday Travel Arrangements when selecting the type of leave.
If your son is travelling over the break, you must send through flight, bus or train tickets to Boarding.Admin@scotch.wa.edu.au
Please add all the ticketing details to Reach, as this helps with our transport arrangements to get boys to the airport, bus and train stations on time.
Below are the instructions on how to enter leave into the Reach Leave Management System, please also email if you have any questions regarding Reach or leave entries.
Boarding Photographic Competition
Don’t forget to get your entries in for the photo competition. When sending them to Sean, also include where the pictures were taken please.
Entries closing: Friday 28th July 2023
Meet the Mentor